Posts in "Texas-14"

November 5, 2012

A slew of Congressional candidates dipped into their own wallets over the past week to fund one final push in their campaigns.

Here’s Roll Call’s running tally, according to local reports and online filings with the Federal Election Commission:

Senate races:

Last week, former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) guaranteed a $500,000 loan for his campaign against former Gov. Tim Kaine (D). An Allen aide described it as a bridge loan to ensure available funds while the campaign processed credit card donations. Roll Call rates this race as a Tossup.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon (R) continued to fund much of her campaign against Rep. Christopher Murphy (D). As of Oct. 17, she had contributed $40 million of her own funds to her race. Roll Call rates this as Leans Democratic.

July 31, 2012

Updated 12:07 a.m.| Next to the Senate GOP runoff, the most closely watched race in Texas was the Democratic runoff over who would challenge Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R) in the fall.

State Rep. Pete Gallego defeated former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the Democratic runoff for the Texas 23. The Associated Press called the race with 84 percent of precincts reporting, as Gallego had 53.6 percent.

It is an enormous relief to national Democrats. While Rodriguez is personally popular, Democrats were concerned about his ability to run a serious campaign in the fall. Democrats said they were prepared to invest in the race but acknowledged it would have been a drain on resources that could be deployed elsewhere.

Gallego ran a flawed campaign in the primary. He brought in new team early in the runoff. The move worked.

Democratic Races

Texas 33: State Rep. Marc Veasey defeated former state Rep. Domingo Garcia. Veasey will almost certainly be coming to Congress in November.

Texas 34: Attorney Filemon Vela defeated former Congressional staffer Denise Blanchard. Filemon will most likely be coming to Congress in the fall.

Texas 25: Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams defeated tea party candidate Wes Riddle. Williams will most likely be coming to Congress in the fall.

Texas 36: Former Rep. Steve Stockman appeared to defeat financial adviser Stephen Takach. With 74 percent of precincts reporting, Stockman had 55 percent, indicating that he will most likely be returning to Congress in the fall.

May 30, 2012

Updated 2:10 a.m. | HOUSTON — With few House incumbents facing competitive primaries Tuesday in Texas, most of the action was in a handful of contests for safe open and new seats. As expected, almost all of those crowed races will be decided by July 31 runoffs after no candidate was able to get at least 50 percent of the primary vote.

Democrats were unable to avoid a runoff in the one district that is expected to be competitive this fall. State Rep. Pete Gallego will face former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the Democratic runoff in the redrawn majority-Hispanic 23rd district. The winner will take on freshman Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R), who is a top target for Democrats.

Rodriguez got 48 percent of the vote, nearly avoiding a runoff with Gallego, the favored nominee of national party operatives. Full story

March 1, 2012

The federal court in San Antonio issued an order today setting a new primary schedule. The ruling comes a couple of days after the same federal court ordered a new interim Congressional map for the Lone Star State.

You can check out the court’s full order, sent over by the Texas Democratic Party, below. But here are the key dates:

March 2: The filing period reopens

March 9: The filing period closes at 6 p.m.

May 29: Primary election

June 10: Deadline for primary runoff candidates to withdraw from the ballot

February 28, 2012

A federal three-judge panel in San Antonio released a new interim Texas Congressional map today after both parties failed to produce a compromise following weeks of wrangling in court.

The court-ordered map resembles a February proposal from state Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) that gave Democrats a new district in the Fort Worth area, effectively giving Republicans a 25-to-11 advantage in the Congressional delegation.

The fate of the Texas 2012 map remained uncertain for weeks after the Supreme Court ruled in January that the San Antonio court overstepped its boundaries with its original proposal for an interim map. There are several seats at stake on the new Texas map, which increased by four House districts due to explosive population growth, mostly in the Hispanic community.

Texas officials were forced to delay their primary twice while maps worked their way through two separate court systems. The San Antonio court released a revised interim map just in time for both parties to hold their primary on May 29.